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Collecting without the Internet
Imagine with me if you will, a world without the internet. I'm sure some of you remember this world quite vividly, others could never imagine such a thing. I was fortunate enough to remember what it was like not having the Internet, anyone else remember cutting up old magazine pictures for school reports? Or hand writing everything? Well I'm getting a little off topic now, but you get the idea.
I started writing this to allow you all to imagine game collecting without the use and help of the internet. Some of you rely completely on the Internet to get your games through the usual sites, while others (like myself) buy completely from the "wild" as it's now called. But just from the simple fact that you are reading this people proves that we all use to Internet somewhat in our collecting ways.
Maybe you just use this wonderful site to track your games and occasionally chat with others, or maybe you use the internet to its fullest extent and get every piece of information you can find on a game before you buy it.
This blog doesn't really have a point, I was just thinking of how different my collecting habits would be without the internet. Maybe you would like to explain how your collecting life would be different? Or maybe the thought of not having an Internet makes you want to curl up in a ball in the corner of the room, and you don't want to think about it anymore.
I don't rely on the Internet a whole lot in my collecting ways, I don't buy from the Internet and I still keep offline collection lists. I would probably still be buying a lot of the same stuff, but it just wouldn't be as much fun. Without my printed checklists, I wouldn't know which games I had left to buy, or which ones were considered rare. I would have no idea what a game was worth and without the huge audiences of Internet stores/auctions, a lot of stuff just wouldn't be worth nearly as much. Plus, I would have no idea there are thousands of other people who collect old games and I would never get to show off my awesome collection.
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*Curls up into a ball*
*shudders*
No... Internet...?
NOOOOOOOOOO
*You have exceeded your daily "O" limit* - NES_Rules
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Whoops.... Dave, you may want to edit that "no" so that it doesn't break the blog script...
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*sigh*
See what comes from writing stupid things in Caps, logical?!? You messed up his blog entry! 
But on topic: We didn't have internet at home until 1998 so I very much remember how it was. It had it's charm but it sure is convenient to have the internet around. 
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@Sirgin: Umm, no, just no. It wasn't because I typed in caps, it was because I typed too long of a string of letters, and the blog script doesn't bump them down to the next line, like a word processor would. It didn't effect his blog post at all. all it did was elongate the comment section if you clicked on the comments link. Thus, not effecting his post. I'll bet you that Dave could do a little tweak to make it bump the letters down. after all, he is teh bestestest programmer I 'know'.
Oh, and I don't think my comment was stupid. Thanks for that.
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Collecting video games without the internet? Tsk. Here in Germany, this very idea might sound charming for sure, but it's nigh impossible to do so without a hell lot of trouble. After all, we don't have garage sales of the same magnitude as in the US, so this possibility is pretty much a no-no. Even if there is a garage sale here and there, you can hardly find any video games at all - most of the times without a box or a manual, and that's out of the question for me.
Then there are those shops selling used video games for all kinds of consoles in good condition, especially in Japan (ever heard of Super Potato? Wow...what a shop! They only sell video games complete and in mint condition, for absurdly low prices...)...heck, nearly every shop in Akihabara probably does, but again, not so in Germany (well, I know a small video game shop in my town, and every now and then, I am able to snatch a gem, but it's not much).
Ebay and other internet shops (i.e. videogamesplus.ca and play-asia.com) are basically my only hope when it comes to games that have never even been released in Europe - and there are quite some, I can tell you.
It's really weird, though...video games have always been pretty popular in Germany, and yet you seldom find some at garage sales...I guess it's because nowadays, Germans tend to sell their old stuff on ebay rather than on garage sales...
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Collecting without the internet meant three things:
1. Legwork
2. Legwork
3. Legwork
It's still the same today. Not every thrift store and flea market lists which games they have online. In fact, none do. Even 'phone first' won't help you there.
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I find a sense of satisfaction finding games in the wild (especially when you need to clean them up) that I just dont get buying online. I try to purchase most items in the wild and supplement my collection with the occasional trade or purchase online. Im really looking forward to garage sale season next year and over the last year i've made some connections at a couple of the local pawn shops.
Nothing beats finding games like Chrono Trigger for $4.17 or Dragon Force CIB for $1.81!!!!!!
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I got chrono trigger for free. Y=That beasts 4.17 
Anyways i a;sp didnt jave internet till 1998 and didn;t realize there were actually other game collecters till i signed up for tips and trick in 99ish
Ptherwise i wouldn't have used ebay but i still would have gotten the gross of my games frm family/friends/
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I didn't have internet until 2000. But I guess it doesn't really pertain to this subject b/c I didn't start collecting until around 2003-2004.
P.S. Before internet people actually spent time outside, in the fresh air.
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